Drone Racing League Expands Coverage To Asia For 2017 Season

The Drone Racing League has struck a deal with FOX Sports Asia to expand coverage ahead of its second full season. With its new broadcast partner, DRL will be able to share content with millions of households in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia starting Sept. 7.

“As the sport of drone racing continues to grow internationally, we are looking forward to working with our new partner, FOX Sports Asia, to introduce drone racing to millions of new fans in Asia,” DRL CEO and founder Nicholas Horbaczewski said in a statement.

Competitive drone flying has gained traction in recent years as the technology has become more widely available. As the space got increasingly competitive, the DRL was founded in 2015.

The 2017 season will follow 16 racers as they travel to venues around the world and compete for the title of World Champion. Among them is racer JET, hailing from the United States, last year’s champion who will hope to defend his title.

All DRL racers are trained to fly a proprietary Racer3 drone that can reach speeds in excess of 80 mph while zooming through the glowing obstacle courses. Each drone features an onboard camera, which allows viewers to follow the race from a dizzying first person view.

Unlike other sports, fans now have the ability to see exactly what the “athlete” is seeing on their very own television screens. This unique viewing experience has returned strong television viewing numbers from the league’s existing broadcast distribution deals with partners including ESPN to cover North and South America, Sky Sports, ProSiebenSat.1, Disney XD and OSN. Per DRL, millions of fans now follow the sport in 87 countries.